Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

E197018

film segment short story television episode

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is a famous horror story (and classic Twilight Zone episode) about a terrified airplane passenger who believes he sees a creature sabotaging the wing mid-flight.

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All labels observed (8)

Label	Occurrences
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet canonical	10
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (short story)	3
The Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"	2
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (The Twilight Zone 1963 episode)	1
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (The Twilight Zone 1983 segment)	1
Nightmare at 30,000 Feet	1
Nightmare at 30,000 Feet (The Twilight Zone 2019 episode)	1
short story Nightmare at 20,000 Feet	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1753789 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
Context triple: [Richard Matheson, notableWork, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet]

A. Airport 1975
Airport 1975 is a 1974 American disaster film and sequel in the Airport series, best known for its midair collision plot and ensemble cast.
B. Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 satirical disaster-comedy film that parodies the conventions of airline and disaster movies with rapid-fire visual gags and deadpan humor.
C. Midnight Madness
Midnight Madness is a popular late-night program at the Toronto International Film Festival that showcases genre films such as horror, action, and cult cinema.
D. Sky's the Limit
"Sky's the Limit" is a posthumously released song by The Notorious B.I.G., featuring 112, known for its reflective lyrics and soulful production.
E. How It Feels to Fly
"How It Feels to Fly" is a soulful R&B ballad by Alicia Keys featured on her 2009 album *The Element of Freedom*.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
Target entity description: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is a famous horror story (and classic Twilight Zone episode) about a terrified airplane passenger who believes he sees a creature sabotaging the wing mid-flight.

A. Airport 1975
Airport 1975 is a 1974 American disaster film and sequel in the Airport series, best known for its midair collision plot and ensemble cast.
B. Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 satirical disaster-comedy film that parodies the conventions of airline and disaster movies with rapid-fire visual gags and deadpan humor.
C. Midnight Madness
Midnight Madness is a popular late-night program at the Toronto International Film Festival that showcases genre films such as horror, action, and cult cinema.
D. Sky's the Limit
"Sky's the Limit" is a posthumously released song by The Notorious B.I.G., featuring 112, known for its reflective lyrics and soulful production.
E. How It Feels to Fly
"How It Feels to Fly" is a soulful R&B ballad by Alicia Keys featured on her 2009 album *The Element of Freedom*.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	film segment ⓘ short story ⓘ television episode ⓘ television episode ⓘ
adaptationOf	Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (short story) ⓘ linked to: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
adaptedAs	Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (The Twilight Zone 1963 episode) ⓘ linked to: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (The Twilight Zone 1983 segment) ⓘ linked to: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet Nightmare at 30,000 Feet (The Twilight Zone 2019 episode) ⓘ linked to: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
antagonist	gremlin-like creature ⓘ
author	Richard Matheson ⓘ
basedOn	Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (short story) ⓘ linked to: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (short story) ⓘ linked to: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
character	Bob Wilson ⓘ
cinematographyBy	Robert Pittack ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
criticalReputation	classic Twilight Zone episode ⓘ
director	George Miller ⓘ Richard Donner ⓘ
editor	George T. Clemens ⓘ
episodeNumberInSeason	3 ⓘ
firstPublishedIn	Alone by Night ⓘ Shock III ⓘ
genre	horror fiction ⓘ horror film segment ⓘ horror television ⓘ psychological horror ⓘ science fiction television ⓘ
host	Rod Serling ⓘ
influenced	popular culture depictions of gremlins on airplanes ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
leadActor	John Lithgow ⓘ William Shatner ⓘ
mainCharacter	Robert Wilson ⓘ
musicBy	Marius Constant ⓘ
narrationBy	Rod Serling ⓘ
notableElement	depiction of fear of flying ⓘ gremlin on airplane wing ⓘ
notableFor	portrayal of a passenger questioning his sanity during a flight ⓘ
originalAirDate	1963-10-11 ⓘ
originalNetwork	CBS ⓘ
partOf	Twilight Zone: The Movie ⓘ linked to: The Twilight Zone: The Movie
partOfSeries	The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) ⓘ linked to: The Twilight Zone (TV series episodes)
plotFocus	airplane passenger sees creature on wing ⓘ
productionCompany	CBS Television Network ⓘ linked to: CBS
publicationType	anthology contribution ⓘ
season	5 ⓘ
setting	commercial airplane in flight ⓘ
theme	fear of flying ⓘ mental illness and perception ⓘ unreliable perception ⓘ
writer	Richard Matheson ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (20)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Richard Matheson → notableWork → Nightmare at 20,000 Feet ⓘ

Richard Matheson → wrote → Nightmare at 20,000 Feet ⓘ

The Twilight Zone (TV series episodes) → hasNotableEpisode → Nightmare at 20,000 Feet ⓘ

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet → adaptedAs → Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (The Twilight Zone 1963 episode) ⓘ